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One Direction may be the boy band of the moment, but when a Jonas
Brother has a baby, it still makes headlines.

This time, however, it wasn't usual suspects -- People
or Us Weekly -- that broke news of the birth. Instead,
Procter & Gamble’s Dreft, a baby fabric detergent brand,
bought the exclusive rights to publish photos of the newborn.

On Feb. 2, Kevin Jonas (at 26, the eldest Jonas brother) took to
Twitter to update the world on the birth of his daughter. And
while it certainly wasn't the only time a parent-to-be has live
tweeted a birth, it was a marketing
first.

"The idea that you would have a sponsored birth isn't new," Ted
Murphy, CEO and founder of Izea, a company that connects
influential bloggers and celebrities to brands, told AdWeek. "It's just typically
done by media outlets. We're moving to something that's much
more of a sponsored model for everything.”

Alena's sponsored delivery may usher in a marketing era in which
celebrities and brands forge direct partnerships, cutting out
traditional middlemen like entertainment magazines and television
shows. It’s something of a symbiotic relationship: celebrities
are able to control their image while brands can directly connect
with consumers via a famous surrogate.

Mike Steele, editor of Wenner Media's Us Weekly, told
AdWeek that he isn't worried. "I don't know that every
celebrity wants to have their live events sponsored,” he told the
outlet.

Perhaps. But if I had to put money on it, I’d bet we're not that
far away from a sponsored divorce, courtesy of a Real Housewife.